Neymar poised to sign new Barca contract

BARCELONA: Brazil forward Neymar will sign a new five-year contract with Barcelona on Friday, the La Liga champions said on Monday.

The 24-year-old joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013, winning nine trophies including two La Liga titles and the 2015 Champions League final in which he scored in the 3-1 win over Juventus.

Barcelona first announced they had reached a deal with the Neymar on July 1, setting his release clause at 200 million euros ($224 million) for the first year, 222 million for the second and 250 million for the final three.

Neymar has scored 90 goals for the Spanish club and is part of the their feted ‘MSN’ attacking trident along with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

The nature of his signing, however, has brought the club and player prolonged legal problems.

Neymar and his father had to testify in Spain’s national court this year along with Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor Sandro Rosell, who resigned in 2014 over controversy about concealing the total cost of the transfer.

The case was reopened in September after Spain’s national court overturned a judge’s decision that it was not a matter for the criminal court.

Barca’s Argentine defender Javier Mascherano has signed a contract extension keeping them at the club until June, 2019.